NEW ORLEANS – Resulting from a prior personal injury lawsuit, Senior Judge Ivan Lemelle ruled on Mar 28 that Rain CII, the owner and operator of a calcining facility in Gramercy, is entitled to reimbursements for attorney’s fees and costs from a subcontractor.
AOA Services, which also subcontracted its work in relation to an original lawsuit with Paulina Industries, argued against reimbursement from Paulina in a separate motion that was granted in part and denied in part by the judge.
The judge released the statement regarding a tri-folded reimbursement motion stemming from a failed lawsuit filed on May 26, 2016 in which Jamal Thomas, a worker at Paulina, who was contracted by AOA to transport coke at Rain CII’s production plant, sued Rain CII for severe injuries sustained while on the job.
Due to the broad nature of indemnifications outlined in the contract between Rain CII and AOA, it was ruled that Rain CII was to be fully reimbursed for any and all kinds of legal-related fees regarding workplace injury lawsuits, citing section 8a of their contract. As a result, AOA industries is now forced to pay Rain CII upwards of nearly $66,000, including interest accumulated from the date of the 2016 judgment.
Also, Lemelle ruled in favor of Paulina in lieu of AOA’s claims that it was entitled to reimbursements outlined within its contract regarding its case against Rain CII. Within their contract, it was agreed that Paulina was liable for any legal fees sustained by AOA regarding a workplace injury lawsuit, thus it was ruled it is to reimburse a portion of AOA’s legal fees incurred during Thomas’ lawsuit.
However, the judge found that Paulina is not entitled to do so regarding AOA’s expense of proving indemnification directly against Paulina, and that it particularly lies “outside the scope” of their provision.